Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 3 Apr 2025

Vol. 1065 No. 4

Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions

Deputy Malcolm Byrne

It is a privilege to be able to stand on the floor of this Chamber and ask questions on behalf of my constituents in Wicklow-Wexford directly of the Tánaiste or, indeed, the Taoiseach.

It is critical to economic development that we invest in infrastructure. The Tánaiste will share my frustration about the pace of delivery of certain infrastructure, be it water and wastewater infrastructure, the national grid or transport. I wish to pose a question on transport to the Tánaiste. Obviously, he will be familiar with my constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, but this also impacts his constituency. The problem is faced by tens of thousands of commuters from counties Wicklow and Wexford every day. The Wicklow commuter study found that 46% of workers and 69% of students from County Wicklow commuted to Dublin daily. We know from census data that over 5,000 people commute from north Wexford through Wicklow every day. The problem is we are seeing an increasingly clogged M11. If leaving Gorey, you have to be on the M11 at 6 a.m. to get to Dublin at a reasonable time. In the other direction, Rosslare Europort is booming because of Brexit but we have not seen the M11 completed down to Rosslare Europort. If there is an incident, we have traffic chaos impacting on counties Wicklow and Wexford.

If the alternative is presented, people do not have to use the M11 but the Rosslare rail line, which is the most neglected rail line in the country. If you are travelling from Rathdrum, Arklow or Gorey, you only have six services on a weekday to Dublin on a single line. That is as opposed to Carlow, equidistant from Dublin, which has 11; Dundalk, which has 16; and Portlaoise, which is equidistant and has 32 rail services.

I am asking that we ensure there is balanced regional development, that in the review of the national development plan regard is had to road and rail infrastructure, and that the M11 - the spine running through counties Wicklow and Wexford - and the Rosslare rail line are finally given priority. This week, I met with the NTA and I am not satisfied. It has not moved sufficiently on issues such as park-and-ride facilities along the route. I want an assurance that, when it comes to the questions of pace and delivery, it will be the Government telling the NTA to deliver and not the other way around.

The Tánaiste

I thank Deputy Malcolm Byrne for raising this important issue, which affects his constituency and mine. It actually affects quite a number of constituencies and our region. In many ways, it speaks, as Deputy Byrne rightly said, to the issue of infrastructure. We are too slow at delivering infrastructure. This is why when we came together to form this Government, the programme for Government was very clear on expanding the mandate of the Department of public expenditure to also include a new division on infrastructure delivery and having, for the first time, a Cabinet committee dedicated exclusively to the issue of infrastructure so we can remove bottlenecks, if Deputy Byrne will pardon the pun, and try to drive forward these projects.

The Government is not anti-roads. Let me be very clear, in that there is a new Government and the Government made up of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, with the support of Independents, is a Government that wants to get on with the business of building roads. Even electric cars need roads to drive on. The buses also need roads to go on. Unless we are getting hovercraft, we need roads. There is road safety issue, a road maintenance issue and a quality-of-life issue. We need to do more, which I can see with the N11-M11 in a practical way.

Approximately €502 million of Exchequer capital funds have been provided for national roads for protection and renewal and for new roads. In addition, €98 million has been provided for national roads under public-private partnerships. As part of various allocations, €12 million in capital funding was allocated to Wexford County Council and a further €3.2 million was allocated to Wicklow County Council to cover new roads and the protection and renewal of the existing national road network.

In addition to this investment in our national roads infrastructure, a number of significant improvements are also planned across Ireland's rail network over the coming years, including on the Dublin to Rosslare line. Last year, we saw some changes to timetables on the line, including a new late evening service between Wexford and Gorey. I look forward to similar timetable improvements being introduced. The Department of Transport is working to pursue the recommendations of the all-island strategic rail review, including an increase in services for Wexford and Rosslare to at least one train every two hours. I know this is an important measure.

Other measures further up the line will have a positive impact on congestion, traffic and commuters. As part of the DART+ programme, specifically the DART+ Coastal South project, it is planned to increase service frequency between Bray and Greystones and that portion of the Rosslare line from approximately every 30 minutes in each direction to every 20 minutes. The extension of the new battery electric DART carriages is also being looked at very actively, which would enable the DART to service Wicklow town. All of these measures will make a very positive difference in terms of being able to increase the frequency. I am told the NTA is examining the issue of extending the DART service to Wicklow, which could increase the service frequency along that portion of the line from six trains per day each way to a train every hour. Taken in the round, these measures will see increased frequency on the Dublin to Rosslare line.

In addition to this, we need to advance the programme for Government commitments on including funding for new roads, including funding for the protection and renewal of roads and establishing distinct budgets for road maintenance and new road construction in order to give that policy direction to the NTA that Deputy Byrne rightly referenced.

Deputy Malcolm Byrne

I would love to have the Tánaiste's confidence that we will see all of this delivered over the lifetime of the Government. I would love to see all of that happening. For commuters stuck in traffic or on an inadequate rail service every day, delivery over the lifetime of the Government will be essential. What the Tánaiste is speaking about in terms of additional rail carriages will need to be delivered over the next four to five years. We will need to see the M11 completed to Rosslare. We will need to see the introduction of park-and-ride facilities. We will need to see some of the level crossings that have held up the train being dealt with. The Tánaiste, being based in Greystones, knows of some of these issues. He has been hearing about this from the NTA for more than a decade. I am not convinced that the NTA is listening sufficiently to the commuters of Wicklow and Wexford about the importance of the pace of delivery. The plans have been there for years. We are just not getting the delivery.

The Tánaiste

That is right, but in fairness to the NTA, the policy direction of recent years in terms of roads was regrettable. It delayed the delivery of the projects needed as regards the N11. There needs to be absolute policy clarity on this now, and I believe there is. All of us, regardless of party affiliation or of being in government or opposition, from Wicklow-Wexford and Wicklow should come together and meet the NTA on these matters. There are real issues for people living in commuter belts. The traffic congestion is having a direct impact on issues such as childcare, quality of life and being able to pick kids up from school and drop them off in the morning. There are challenges being felt by people in the wide commuter belt area that I am proud to represent in the Dáil.

On a positive note, I should say that the allocations for road projects for 2025 include the N11 Oilgate to Rosslare Harbour project, which has received an allocation of €4 million. This project, which is at design and environmental evaluation phase, will deliver safety improvements to the N11 corridor. It will also improve regional connectivity and ensure the increased volume of freight traffic using Rosslare Port can be accommodated. In addition, we have provided €2 million for the Rosslare Europort access road. Let us continue to work constructively on this matter.